BNIP3 and cancer: Moreover, it has been reported that cancer cells sustain hypoxia by upregulating the BCL2 interacting protein 3 (BNIP3)/BNIP3-like (BNIP3L), which in turn induces BECLIN-1 dependent autophagy by destabilizing Bcl-2-BECLIN-1 complex (Lin et al., 2014).